Black Mountain Roundup, Day 17

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 25:

• Target: Burros
• Method: Helicopter
• Type: Planned
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
• Better way: Poison the jennies with PZP, let the herd die off*
• Captured: 1,150, up from 1,112 on Day 15
• Shipped: 1,102, up from 900 on Day 15
• Released: None
• Deaths: 2, no change from Day 15
• Average daily take: 67.6
• Unaccounted-for animals: 46

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

Gather activity concluded on Day 16 with 15% overreach.

• Animals taken by helicopter: 1,112
• Animals taken by roping: 38

The death rate is 0.2%.

The capture total includes 461 jacks, 524 jennies and 165 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.3% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 46.8% were male and 53.2% were female.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 6,900 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 5,750 gallons per day

The Day 17 report said 47 burros will be returned to the HMA, including those treated with the Montana Solution, but only 46 animals were held back according to the totals.

1,150 – 1,102 – 2 = 46

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The HMA is managed primarily for livestock.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 15.